Carnegie Hall

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra is a radical experiment in musical democracy, proving for more than 50 years what happens when exceptional artists gather with total trust in each other and faith in the creative process. Orpheus began in 1972 when cellist Julian Fifer assembled a group of New York freelancers in their early 20s to play orchestral repertoire as if it were chamber music. In that age of co-ops and communes, the idealistic Orpheans snubbed the “corporate” path of symphony orchestras and learned how to play, plan, and promote concerts as a true collective, with leadership roles rotating from the very first performance.

In its first decade, Orpheus made Carnegie Hall its home and became a global sensation through its tours of Europe and Asia. Its catalog of recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, Nonesuch Records, and other labels grew to include more than 70 albums that still stand as benchmarks of the chamber orchestra repertoire, including Haydn symphonies, Mozart concertos, and 20th-century gems by Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Ravel, and Bartók.

The sound of Orpheus is defined by its relationships. Orpheus brings the best out of its collaborators, and those bonds deepen over time, as heard in the long arc of music making with soloists such as Richard Goode, Vadim Gluzman, Anne Akiko Meyers, and Branford Marsalis, and in the commitment to welcoming next-generation artists who include Nobuyuki Tsujii, Tine Thing Helseth, and Caleb Teicher. By partnering with jazz legends Brad Mehldau, Wayne Shorter, and Vijay Iyer, as well as actors Christine Baranski and Liev Schreiber, Orpheus expands the boundaries of what a chamber orchestra can achieve. Relationships with composers like Jessie Montgomery, Billy Childs, and Fazil Say have been another crucial way Orpheus stretches itself, commissioning and performing multiple world premieres each year. Having proven the power of direct communication and open-mindedness within the ensemble, the only relationship Orpheus has never had any use for is one with a conductor.

At home in New York, Orpheus begins its next 50 years with a renewed commitment to enriching and reflecting the surrounding community. It continues its groundbreaking work with those living with dementia and their caregivers through Orpheus Reflections, and the Orpheus Music Academy and Orpheus Leadership Institute spread the positive lessons of trust and democracy to young musicians and those in positions of power. Each year, Access Orpheus reaches 1,500 public school students in all five boroughs of New York City, bringing music into their communities and welcoming them to Carnegie Hall. Always evolving as artists and leaders, the Orpheus musicians carry their legacy forward, counting on their shared artistry and mutual respect to make music and effect change.

Violinist Maxim Vengerov is universally hailed as one of the world’s finest musicians, and often referred to as the greatest living string player in the world today. Born in 1974, he won the Henryk Wieniawski and Carl Flesch international competitions at ages 10 and 15, respectively; studied with Galina Turchaninova and Zakhar Bron; made his first recording at the age of 10; and went on to record for high-profile labels, earning Grammy and Gramophone artist of the year awards.

In 2007, Mr. Vengerov followed in the footsteps of his mentors, Mstislav Rostropovich and Daniel Barenboim, and turned his attention to conducting. In 2010, he was appointed the first chief conductor of the Gstaad Festival Orchestra. He has conducted the Munich Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, RTÈ National Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestre National de France.

In 2020, Mr. Vengerov became Classic FM’s first solo artist in residence and released a new recording of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with conductor Myung-Whun Chung and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, coupled with works by Saint-Saëns and Ravel. He also made a live recording of his Carnegie Hall concert in October 2018.

In recent years, Mr. Vengerov opened the season of the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala with Riccardo Chailly and opened the Shanghai International Music Festival with Christoph Eschenbach. He also celebrated 40 years on stage with a sold-out Royal Albert Hall concert performing both Brahms’s Violin Concerto and Double Concerto and toured in recital throughout the world. His 50th birthday celebrations this season include the start of a three-year Perspectives series at Carnegie Hall.

One of Mr. Vengerov’s greatest passions is teaching. He has held teaching positions at the Mozarteum University Salzburg and Royal Academy and College of Music in London. In 2018, he became the Goodwill Ambassador of the Musica Mundi School, a unique institution that supports young talents. To make music education more accessible, he established his own online teaching platform in January 2021 at maximvengerov.com.

Mr. Vengerov has received numerous awards, including a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance and a World Economic Forum Crystal Award in 2007. He was also named a chevalier of the Ordre du Mérite Culturel from the palace in Monte Carlo, where he resides. He plays the ex-Kreutzer Stradivari (1727) among other violins.

Violinist Miho Saegusa, a versatile chamber musician and orchestral leader, cherishes the spirit of collaboration and the joy of shared music making. She is a founding member of the Grammy-nominated Aizuri Quartet, recipient of the 2022 Cleveland Quartet Award from Chamber Music America, Grand Prize and CAG Management Prize at the 2018 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition, and top prizes at the 2017 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition and 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition.

The Aizuri Quartet’s debut album Blueprinting, released by New Amsterdam Records, earned a 2019 Grammy Award nomination. Earthdrawn Skies, the quartet’s second album, was named one of NPR’s 10 Best Classical Albums of 2023. In 2022, Aizuri was one of the fellows of the Artist Propulsion Lab, a project of New York City’s classical radio station WQXR. In addition to the world’s great chamber music halls and series, the quartet has performed in an eclectic variety of settings. Aizuri opened for and performed five nights with the legendary band Wilco at New York’s United Palace theater. With the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ken-David Masur, the quartet performed John Adams’s concerto for string quartet Absolute Jest.

In addition to chamber music, Ms. Saegusa loves the energy and intimacy of chamber orchestras. She is a member and has served as an artistic director and personnel coordinator of Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. For five seasons, she was concertmaster of The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and since 2001, is a member of Iris Orchestra, now Iris Collective, where she has held the Isaac Stern Concertmaster Chair on numerous occasions.

Ms. Saegusa has been featured as soloist with The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Iris Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Aspen Concert Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra, and the Yale Symphony Orchestra.

Born in Kitakyushu, Japan, Ms. Saegusa studied with Masao Kawasaki and Dorothy DeLay. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University, and completed graduate work at The Juilliard School, earning her Master of Music and Artist Diploma.